Armstrong Court Community Garden Open for Planting

A parade of planters kicks off the season

The Greenwich Community Garden at Armstrong is officially open for the season.

"We do everything using organics practices to make sure we are keeping chemicals and toxic things out of our food supply. Everything we are doing is in raised beds with organic soil," said Mike Gilbert, the director of Armstrong Court Community Garden.

This is the 7th year that this 15 thousand square foot garden is open to the community. People grow everything from veggies to flowers in the plots.

"There's people from all over the world in this community. A lot of people like to grow things that hey remember format heir home country," said Founder and President Patty Sechi.

Officials say there is a population in Greenwich that is considered "food insecure" meaning they don't have fresh food available to them.

"We have great grocery stores, but they can be expensive," said Denise Savageau, the Director of the Greenwich Conservation Commission.

The Community Garden is helpful for this group, and local food pantries.

"We do have a lot of people who are growing plots specifically for the pantries," said Savageau.

"There's a lot out there about the safety of food and abundance of food, and do you know where your food comes from? When you're in a community garden, you have answers to all those questions," said Sechi.

"The gardens fill that need, get people fresh produce," said Savageau.

Armstrong Community Garden also works with the nearby Head Start preschool program during the summer months.

"It's really great to see families out together. We want kids to get this so they can pass it along," said Sechi.

"It's really an amazing place, I feel lucky to be a part of it," said Gilbert.

New this year is another community garden, located on Bible St. in Cos Cob. For more information on Greenwich Community Gardens, visit: www.greenwichcommunitygardens.org.